Route 3 (Rhode Island)

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For the Route 3 that existed in the 1920s, see Route 3 (New England).

Route 3 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Rhode Island.

Contents

1 Route
2 History
3 Notes
4 References

Route

RI 3 takes the following route through the State:

Westerly: 2.7 miles; U.S. Route 1 to Hopkinton town line
*Grove Avenue, High Street and Ashaway Road
Hopkinton: 10.1 miles; Westerly city line to Richmond town line
*Main Street
Richmond: 3.7 miles; Hopkinton town line to Exeter town line
*Nooseneck Hill Road
Exeter: 2.9 miles; Richmond town line to West Greenwich town line
*Nooseneck Hill Road
West Greenwich: 4.7 miles; Exeter town line to Conventry town line
*Nooseneck Hill Road
Coventry: 4.6 miles; West Greenwich town line to West Warwick town line
*Nooseneck Hill Road and Tiogue Avenue
West Warwick: 1.8 miles; Coventry town line to RI 2
*Tiogue Avenue, Main Street and Cowesett Avenue

History

In 1922, the Westerly-Providence road was assigned New England Interstate Highway 1A, as an alternate to New England Interstate Highway 1. The road was only paved north of Nooseneck Hill. When NE 1 became US 1 in 1927, NE 1A became Rhode Island State Highway 1A (now assigned to a different route). The original NE 1A alignment differed from the current RI 3 alignment in the following places:

On a [1922 map], the main road appears to follow RI 3 out of downtown Westerly and then Potter Hill Road, and either Maxson Street and RI 3 or Laurel Street into Ashaway.
Maxson Hill Road and Town House Road from Ashaway to Hopkinton.
Bank Street, Arcadia Road, RI 165, Black Plain Road and Austin Road from Locustville to Austin. An old bridge still exists over a creek just north of RI 165, a bit east of the intersection with Arcadia Road.
Weaver Hill Road and Kitts Corner Road north of Nooseneck Hill.
Lake Drive and Mishnock Road, and then Maple Root Road and RI 118.
South Main Street and RI 117 through Washington.

From there, the main road used RI 33 to where the Meshanticut Interchange is now, and then roughly RI 2 (though the exact route is unclear; it may have originally used Cranston Street into Westminster Street) to end multiplexed with US 1 and RI 2 in Providence, possibly at Broad Street (former RI 117).

By 1939, the number had been changed to RI 3, and it was on its current alignment (though still extending north to Providence, via RI 2 and US 1), and was fully paved with concrete except for a bit in downtown Westerly (and along RI 2 and US 1 north of RI 12). RI 3 was part of a major through route, serving as a cutoff for US 1, along with RI 84 and CT 84. In fact, in 1947, Connecticut proposed moving US 1 to this route, but RIDOT declined, wanting US 1 to continue through the shore towns. RIDOT offered US 1A as a compromise, but this was never signed.[link] The old alignment through Washington to the Meshanticut Interchange site became RI 3A and later RI 33; by 1939 this was on its current alignment, bypassing Washington.

1952 and 1953 saw the building of a new high-speed relocation of RI 3 from RI 84 to north of Wyoming, where RI 3 left the New London Turnpike. This was built as a four-lane surface road, with interchanges at the RI 3/RI 84 split and RI 138.

When the Huntington Expressway was built in 1959, RI 2 was moved onto it, leaving RI 3 as the only road on Reservoir Avenue north of the Expressway. Later the Expressway was designated RI 10, and RI 2 was moved back. At or after that time, RI 3 was truncated to RI 2.

In 1957 and 1958, the Kent County Freeway was built, splitting from RI 3 near Nooseneck Hill and heading east to RI 2. The original designation of this is unknown. However, the westernmost section carried RI 3, at least southbound, due to southbound access along the old road being cut off at the merge. This access was brought back in 1969 when the freeway extension was built to the south.

1959 also saw the assignment of the Interstate Highways, including I-95 along the RI 3 corridor. RI 84 and RI 3 were temporarily designated RI 95 from Connecticut to the beginning of the Kent County Freeway, which was I-95. RI 3 was moved back to the old alignment at the 1952-1953 relocation.

The southernmost several blocks in Westerly may have at one time used Canal Street and one of the diagonal streets to cut over to current RI 3.

Notes

RI 3 serves as a local alternative to Interstate 95 since it parallels I-95 for almost its entire length.

RI 3 was the site of The Station nightclub fire.

References

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